Optima Investment Ltd., which manages the assets of the Central Bank of Hungary’s Pallas Athené Foundation, has sold the majority stake of its Budapest development project, located on the Váci Road office corridor, to internationally-based Chi Fu Investment Group.

During their New Year’s Reception held at the British Ambassador’s Residence in Bucharest, RICS announced the new Advisory Board for Romania, which will be responsible for implementing RICS’ strategic goals locally and will work closely with key stakeholders in Romania.

Sustainability is top of the agenda this year at Davos as governments and businesses around the world are grappling with ways to combat climate change. Of the four global issues the World Economic Forum has said “clearly stand out as urgent and important” at the annual meeting in Switzerland, the first two are how to address environmental challenges harming our ecology and economy, and figuring out how to transform industries to achieve more sustainable business models. The built environment has a huge role to play in developing and implementing solutions, with technology, investment and robust governance central to success, according to the City Momentum Index report from JLL.

Total demand on the Budapest office market in Q4 2019 reached 202,510 sqm, representing an 18% increase from the corresponding period in 2018, according to BRF’s latest figures. The vacancy rate has decreased to a record low of 5.6%, representing another 0.3 pps reduction quarter-on-quarter.

CPI Hungary has rolled out a new brand for its Hungarian retail park. Buy-Way Soroksár and Buy-Way Dunakeszi will now operate under the City Market brand.

Demand for industrial and logistics space in Romania in 2019 reached a total of about 476.000 square meters, a value comparable to that of 2018, when the transactions amounted to a total of 514.000 square meters, according to JLL.

The most active logistics developer in Hungary plans to expand its portfolio by 100-150 thousand sqm every ear. Rudolf Nemes, Country Manager of CTP Hungary talked to Property Forum about the ongoing changes on the Hungarian logistics market.

Real estate developer Mulberry Development, controlled by businessman Ovidiu Șandor, has obtained the building permit for the Radisson Blu hotel in Timișoara. The 160-room hotel will be completed in 2021. The hotel will be operated by the Radisson Hotel Group.

Retail developer Apsys Polska has started preparing its first residential project, which will be built in Warsaw’s Mokotów area in a joint venture with an undisclosed partner.